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Learn about the Mouseion of Alexandria and its function within the city.
The Mouseion was a sector of the city commissioned by Ptolemy I, to rival Athens' Academy as an institute of intellectual pursuit.
Dedicated to the nine inspiring Muses, the Mouseion became a great center for philosophical and scientific enlightenment. It welcomed scholars from many kingdoms, inviting them to share knowledge in literature, science and geography.
The Mouseion was designed so that its buildings and grounds would accommodate free thinking, debate and presentation.
Meeting spaces and theaters surrounded a main courtyard.
Expansive gardens were filled with exotic plants that aided in the study and supply of herbs and medicines. A zoo offered the study of animal behavior and physiology.
Also among the Mouseion's many star attractions was its astronomical observatory.
Herophilos was a physician who lived most of his life in Alexandria. He was able to perform the dissection of human cadavers on a large scale due to the permissiveness of the city in such matters.
Among many other discoveries, he learned that the brain was central to the human nervous system. He also extensively mapped the blood system and measured the pulse with the aid of a water clock.
It is reported that in his thirst to understand human anatomy, he performed 600 vivisection on five prisioners.
In order to be free to pursue their research, scholars were fed and housed at the Mouseion at the government's expense.
This freedom provided Alexandria's scholars a meeting space for intellectual pursuits, and a haven for spiritual peace.
Though nothing remains of the original Mouseion, it lives on as the legacy of our modern museums.